Saturday 20th August
What a difference a day makes, the stormy rain clouds have completely disappeared leaving bright blue skies above. The humidity too has cleared away but I suspect it will return somewhat as the sun rises in the sky.
After a hurried breakfast we start to help Troy and Heather, who are up way before us to prepare for the party this afternoon. The lawns are still wet from rains last night, chairs, tables and canopy frames all dripping with moisture. The lawn is covered in small twigs from the wind gusts of last night but it only takes a few minutes to clear them.
As the sun slowly rises in the sky the air temperature increases and the welcome warmth starts to dry out the ground and we can reinstate the canopies and wipe down the tables and chairs.
We festoon the strings of lighting that cover the patio with coloured spherical paper lanterns. Eric, Troy’s, ever jovial neighbour arrives with more outdoor furniture and umbrellas then stays to help us put everything together.
We place tiki lanterns around the garden while Heather and Amanda are busy preparing fruit kebabs and platters, arranging the sunroom as a drink and dessert station. That will include cupcakes and cheesecake. Homemade sangria, a cocktail of red wine, fruit and Troy’s secret ingredients fills one of the drink dispensers, the other is filled with American style lemonade.
Outside the coolers are filled with beer and plenty of water cooled by bags of ice to keep the heat from a thirsty crowd.
By midday the house and garden look in full party mode, Troy has ordered an inflatable water slide that is 25 metres long, 4 metres wide and 6 metres high. This arrives and is inflated along side the house, there will be a lot of children here from around four years up to teenagers around seventeen, he is hoping this will keep them all amused for the duration of the day.
The theme of the day is Hawaiian, most guests arrive dressed in theme, but Heather has a variety of leis for guests who didn’t. The first guests to arrive are Heathers family, as she said they would, some we had met previously and some we are meeting for the first time, Aunts and uncles, a grand aunt of 92 is the oldest guest, Heathers sister Cindy, husband Phil and two of the cutest little boys with up to the minute shaved hair styles that leave some of their blond hair long on the tops of their heads. Both have eye problems and wear heavy framed corrective glasses, with red Hawaiian shirts, they look like they are attending a Buddy Holly look alike competition. Then there is Stan and Bonnie, Heathers parents.
The caterers arrive, unload their truck and set up at the rear of the yard, two canopies cover tables that hold Bain Marie’s loaded with various mixed salads, baked beans, BBQ ribs, pulled pork, marinated chicken and pulled beef brisket. Cold salads, bread rolls and corn bread are also on the menu, this is a genuine American BBQ. Not one sausage, chop or shrimp are turned in the process, no burnt offerings here. All the food is pre cooked, the ribs apparently for eleven hours. The caterer an ex military buddy of Stan’s spends his time travelling the US attending BBQ competitions winning a good deal of them Stan advises, this means we are guaranteed a good feed.
Guests continue to arrive at a rapid rate, we decamp with a drink to wait for the many greetings to settle. The sangria is surprisingly good, not usually my cup of tea but Troy’s cocktail is a success judging by the rate in which the level of the red liquid in the drink dispenser goes downwards.
We start to meet some of the guests as they filter through, first Troy’s boss, Fernando and his wife Gabby. They are very interesting people, Latin Americans from Guatemala, love to travel, food and wine, we have plenty to talk about. Food service is called before we know it, the food is really good as promised. Most of the children once seeing the giant waterslide strip off their outer layers and want to immediately start climbing into the slide. Up the ladder they go that leads to a covered platform above, then crawling along to descend at a rapid rate down the steep slippery slope on the other side that is fed by water from above. Screams of delight can be heard as they descend caroming into the slides wall at the base. Then repeating over and over, the waterslide is a great success.
We find a shady spot to enjoy our lunch and to talk to the many invited guests that introduce themselves to us. Americans are always interested in Australians, since there is a definite sense of cultural similarity and camaraderie between our two nations and we are so far away.
We meet a few couples that have connections with Australia and two that have even visited Adelaide. We discover that two of Troy and Heathers friends like Australian rules football but it is not very readily available to view here.
The party is a great success all round, pleasant warm day, kids all having fun on the waterslide til way after dark, great food and lots of interesting and lovely people to engage with. A few small bats circle in the fading light as the night gradually draws in bringing out a few stars. The guests gradually dwindle to just a few hardy partygoers, and we talk until late into the night, before finally even they begin to fade and we can take to our beds.